What does ‘six-seven’ mean? Nothing. But it’s still loaded with meaning | Matt Cantor

Older generations are demanding explanations of the viral phrase – but slang doesn’t have to make logical sense

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linguistic panic has swept America in recent months, corrupting our youth, annoying our teachers and leaving countless adults hopelessly confused. The question that has sparked the uproar: what, exactly, does it mean when an otherwise upstanding young person blurts out the phrase “six-seven”?

As you probably know by now if you read, listen to or watch major media outlets from across the political spectrum, the answer is: it doesn’t really mean anything.

The phrase appears to have its roots in a song by the Philadelphia rapper Skrilla, perhaps referring to 67th Street; from there, it was used in videos featuring the 6ft-7in NBA player LaMelo Ball, and Taylen Kinney, a 17-year-old basketball star, helped it go viral when he used the phrase to rank a drink from Starbucks. It’s often accompanied by upturned palms rising and falling. But the specifics don’t hugely matter. It’s just something people like to say – or did, before adults picked up on it. The same is true of words like “skibidi”, which Merriam-Webster calls a “nonsense internet term”. Then there are words whose meanings fluctuate, like “sigma”, which can be a compliment or part of an expression of confusion, as in “What the sigma?”